Sunday, December 16, 2012

Guest Post: Photographing Your Family- Part 6

Doing What They Do

There are so many photography tips. This is the final one
I’m including here. Take pictures of the kids doing what they love to do. Group
pictures and posed pictures are wonderful but those candid pictures sometimes
get neglected and that is a mistake. You can see that some of these images are
‘set up’ but they are still enjoying themselves and doing what they love to do.

It’s best if the kids forget you’re even there. I have pictures of my
kids playing with play-doh and running through the sprinklers and sliding down
hills on big blocks of ice. If they love to cook then get pictures of that.
These are wonderful opportunities to capture the story of your child and who
they are at that moment.

If
you love puzzles, take pictures of making a puzzle.

Or playing in the living room.

or . . . doing this.

The posed shots get what they look like but candids tell the story of
who they are and what they like.

I love taking pictures of high school seniors playing their
instruments. They get much less self conscious and who they are comes through
on film.

This
image was set up but this boy really did love to wear the tiara and play with
the prince doll. Too fun!

There are so many things to think about when taking your family pictures. The
biggest tip of the day is to have fun with it. They should be enjoying
themselves and so should you. You’re stressed and yelling, the kids will always
remember what you said and how you said it because they’ll have photographic
evidence to remind them. Many times I’ll try to make a game out of their
silliness. It doesn’t always work but it never hurts either.